Nanyang Commandery ( zh, 南陽郡) was a Chinese

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

that existed from the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. It was centered in present-day

Nanyang, Henan Nanyang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Henan province, China. The city with the largest administrative area in Henan, Nanyang borders Xinyang to the southeast, Zhumadian to the east, Pingdingshan to the northeast, Luoyang to the n ...

History

Nanyang Commandery was established by Qin in the 35th year of King Zhao (272 BC). The seat was Wan (), present-day

. It consisted of the land north of the Han River previously conquered from Chu. In the

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

dynasty, the commandery consisted of 36 counties: Wan, Chou (), Duyan (), Zan (), Yuyang (), Boshan (), Nieyang (), Yin (), Duyang (), Zhi (), Shandu (), Caiyang (), Xinye (), Zhuyang (), Jiyang (), Wudang (), Wuyin (), Xi'e (), Rang (), Li (), Anzhong (), Guanjun (), Biyang (), Pingshi (), Sui (), She (), Deng (), Chaoyang (), Luyang (), Chongling (), Xindu (), Huyang (), Hongyang (), Lecheng (), Bowang (), and Fuyang (). The total population in 2 AD was 1,942,051, in 359,116 households. By 140 AD, the population had grown to 2,439,618, in 528,551 households. During the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

era, multiple new commanderies were established. By the time when Jin dynasty reunited China (280 AD), the number of counties in Nanyang had been reduced to 14, namely Wan, Xi'e, Zhi, Luyang, Chou, Yuyang, Bowang, Duyang, She, Wuyin, Biyang, Nieyang, Guanjun and Li. The recorded population was 24,400 households. In

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

dynasty, only 7 counties remained in the commandery, while the population had decreased further to 38,132 individuals in 4,727 households by mid-5th century. In Sui and Tang dynasties, Nanyang Commandery became an alternative name of Deng Prefecture in the same region. In 742, the commandery administered 6 counties, and had a population of 165,257, in 43,055 households.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', Chapter 40.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Southern dynasties Commanderies of the Northern dynasties Commanderies of the Sui dynasty